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Nation
remembers Roxas on 111th birthday
Published
in the Philippine Inquirer
Jan. 01, 2003
THE NATION
marks Wednesday the 111th birth anniversary of Manuel A. Roxas, the last president of the Philippine Commonwealth and the
first of the Republic.
Roxas, born in Capiz (now Roxas City) on Jan. 1, 1892 to Gerardo Roxas and Rosario Acuņa, was a posthumous baby, his father having been killed by Spanish soldiers
the April before.
He largely
attended the public schools, completing his secondary education at the Manila High
School
(Araullo High School), graduating with highest honors in 1909.
He graduated
from the University of the Philippine College of Law in 1913, again at the head of his class.
Roxas topped the bar
exams that year, making him the first bar topnotcher in the Philippines.
For 36 years, he held various public
offices, beginning in 1917 as a member of the Capiz municipal council and culminating when he became President of the country.
In between, he served as the youngest
governor of his province from 1919 to 1922, was elected to the House of Representatives in 1922 where he became speaker for
12 years, became a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1934-35, was secretary of finance, and was chair of National
Economic Council and the National Development Co. and other government agencies.
He was also a brigadier general in
the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) and a guerilla leader. He was also president of the Philippine Senate.
After serving as Chief Executive for 23 months, President Roxas passed away on April 15, 1948 at the age of 56.
The late Senate
president Gerry Roxas was his son and the present secretary of trade and industry, Manuel A. Roxas II, his namesake, is his
grandson.
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